SCLT: Building Communities that Last

The Somerville Community Land Trust (SCLT) is not just building housing—we're building the foundation for something deeper: long-term community ownership and stability in a city where that’s becoming harder to find.

In a market that moves fast and rewards profit over people, longtime Somerville residents are being displaced by rising rents, luxury development, and speculative land grabs. Too often, those most impacted—immigrants, working-class families, artists—are left with no control over the future of their homes or neighborhoods.

SCLT is flipping the script. We believe communities deserve to not just live in the building, but to own the land it's built on. We’re not just creating affordable housing—we take land off the market and place it under permanent community ownership, ensuring that homes stay affordable and residents have a voice for generations to come. That’s the power of a community land trust. This isn’t a short-term fix. This is infrastructure for the long haul. While others race to the top, we’re anchoring our city’s foundation in justice, equity, and community power.

Your Donation Makes This Possible

Your support builds more than housing. It builds power. It builds community and invests in an equitable future.

The pulley only works when someone pulls. Your donation provides the force — the essential action that makes this work possible. When you give you promote neighborhood stability by helping us keep housing permanently affordable and under community ownership, protected from speculation.

In 7 weeks SCLT aims to raise $15,000 in donations ($25 - $1,000+). When you give, you help for example:

Hire environmental specialists before buying property such as 297 Medford St.—a former autobody site which will host a 100% affordable building with up to 60 apartments—to make sure the land is environmentally safe to build and live on.
Fund healthy and safe homes for community-owned property such as 12 Pleasant Ave, a 130-year-old rental building we will rehab before existing residents purchase their units at affordable prices-ensuring their long-term stability.
Engage and empower community members through organizing, public events, and accessible education—training leaders, building capacity, and strengthening our community-led model in the process.

Help us build what private developers won’t: affordable homes that last on land that’s shared, and a future rooted in equity and democracy.

Somerville is an amazing and unique community defined by its people, many of whom are in danger of being priced out by unaffordable housing costs. The Somerville Community Land Trust protects Somerville's residents from displacement, promotes democratic control of our housing, and builds community in the process, and I am proud to support it. - Josh M., Spring Hill Neighborhood

Somerville Community Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) organization, EIN 83-4461699. All donations to SCLT are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. No goods or services are provided in exchange for your donation.

2025 SCLT Fall Fundraising Campaign!

Pull Together, Build Forever